Life's Purpose
by Eclair Dolce
Summary: She couldn't allow herself to fall in love. To her, it was not her life's purpose... And so was he. Eventual!UchihaSasukexOC.
1. 0 - Prologue: Sugisaki Kanade

_**Life's Purpose: ~Prologue~**_

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_The Kadogan: The ability to channel and manipulate the wielder's elemental chakra into any part of their body. It can also let them fuse their elemental chakra into any object. It is a Kekkei Genkai passed down to those of the Sugisaki clan. This clan is composed of ninjas who have 3 or more elemental chakras. Originally, they were the most powerful clan in the Village Hidden by Clouds. They are known for completely erasing the existence of clans that tried to rival their power._

_However, during the Great War of the Clans in Kumogakure, many shinobi within this clan were sent to fight, only to die. Only a handful survived; mainly women and children and after this, the Sugisaki clan fled, seeking shelter from the shame of not living up to its powerful name._

_The clan attempted to rebuild itself in the bordering Country of Water, in the Village Hidden by Mist, to its abandoned island of Terauchi. But rumours of the Kadogan's power spread quickly and rogue ninjas started attacking the clan. Hidden organizations which are composed of the survivors from the clans that the Sugisaki clan took out are on the attack too. All of them had the same intention; the Sugisaki clan's complete annihilation._

_Only one person; a girl to be exact survived. She was from the family who never agreed with the clan's actions of seeking power in the form of killing; a family who just wanted to find true peace in the ninja world._

_Saved by the connections of her parents with the 3__rd__ Hokage, the girl started to live in the Village Hidden by Leaves. Her being the fragment and reminder of the bloodthirsty antics of the Sugisaki clan._

_This was Sugisaki Kanade._

_. . . And so, her story begins._

_._

_._

_._


	2. I - The Alpha and the Omega

**Life's Purpose**

"_There are people of spirit and there are people of passion,_

_Both less common than one might think. _

_Rarer still are the people of spirit and passion. _

_But rarest of all is a passionate spirit."_

- Martin Buber

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* * *

**Chapter 1 – The Alpha and the Omega**

* * *

Kanade was anxious. She was extremely anxious about what the Hokage would say about letting her stay in Konoha. '_Let's just hope that this would work out,'_ she thought as she clenched the pendant that her mother gave her, waiting for the ANBU to be finished giving their mission report. The silver-haired one had told her that they would ask the Hokage's permission if he would let her to talk to him but nothing was guaranteed.

Kanade stared at her bottle pendant; mind wandering as to how fast her parent's life was taken away just a few hours ago; the painful thoughts successfully occupying her mind.

_**# # # # # # # #**_

_-Flashback-_

_- 8 Hours Ago-_

_The moonlight glow crept slowly to the face of a small and joyful 10 year old girl who was currently having a midnight snack with her family, her golden orbs shining brightly from happiness - she was Sugisaki Kanade, A child born in the sanctuary of the Cloud Village. She was wearing a black furisode kimono. It was embroidered with thousands of flowering gold peonies, paired with its beautiful checkered obi. Her short black hair was adorned by a gold headband. She was wearing such nice clothes since today was a special day for her, it was her birthday. _

_"Dad! Why is my name Kanade?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at her father expectantly. _

_Her father smiled at her, "Kanade is the japanese of 'playing music'," he began. _

_The little girl gushed at her newfound knowledge, "Really?" _

_"Really," her father answered, petting her head in the process, "Now look around you, Kanade," _

_Kanade obeyed and took a look at her surroundings. The moon was full tonight and glowing fireflies were flying about and are landing once in a while to the white lilies in their backyard. It was a beautiful sight. _

_"This world is composed of countless instruments that cannot be seen by the eyes. Each one plays a different tune. All those tunes intertwine and play a unique melody. Thus, music is born. That's why the world is so beautiful. I and your mother want you to see that world." _

_Kanade blinked, registering her father's words in her 10 year old mind. She was puzzled and gave her father a disconcerting glance. Her mother chuckled at her expression, pinching her nose lightly, "Don't worry, Kanade, it's just dad's bad habit of speaking eloquence. The most important thing is always simple," she said before carrying little Kanade in her arms. She leaned in, placing a little kiss on Kanade's cheek, "Your name is Kanade. Spelled with cute kanji. Kanade is Kanade. You are father and mother's very very precious treasure." _

_Kanade blushed slightly and hugged her mother lovingly. Past her mother, he gave her father a fond smile. Her parents' words always meant a lot to her. _

_Her father and her mother; they are the reasons of what she lived for. These are the things that made her happy with her life, in whilst of all the killings that are happening in her crazy clan. _

_Just then, something moved outside the garden that grabbed her attention. She squinted her eyes in an attempt to see what's outside the dark yard. There seemed to be some sort of a large dark shape. It was hard to see but it kind of looked like a person. Then there was a glint of something shiny, like metal._

_Immediately, a katana sliced through the air and through her father's head. Kanade just stared in shock and horror as her father collapsed on the floor. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. She just stood there looking at her father's now dead body; the scene being burned to her mind. Her mother called her father's name out in distress before a green-haired shinobi presented himself before them._

_"NO! DAD!" Kanade screamed, finally finding her voice as her gold eyes shut tight to block out the image of her father's bloodied body hitting the floor of their home. She kept her eyes shut, hoping that this would stop this all from being the truth, but as something closed around her small wrist, her eyes shot open immediately in panic. Although realizing that it had only been her mother's hand was relieving, the grave expression on her face did nothing to calm her raging emotions. The next series of events happened in a blur, Kanade and her mom quickly rushed towards the door and out of the street. Kanade took one last glance behind her only to see the horrible crooked smile of her family's attacker face grow larger, his eyes flashing with a derange twist as he burned their house. _

_Kanade closed her eyes and turned towards the road. Her eyes widened in horror at the scene before her. It was that scene again; the scene of death. Just like what happened back in her hometown. Bodies and spilled blood littered the street along with crumbled rocks and shattered glass. Nearly every house she saw was being eaten by flames that diminished most of the air's usual autumn chill. _

_Kanade was on the verge of tears. This can't be happening again! 'Just when we found a new home!' she thought as she brought her left hand up to her face. That's when she noticed__ that her mother's hand was no longer wrapped protectively around her fragile wrist. Her emotion-filled eyes darted to where her mother was: she was grasping her ankle, a look of anguish on her face. Her foot had managed to get itself wedged between some large rocks when she had stopped running and now her ankle was bent at a weird angle. _

_Kanade gasped at the sight and her hands shot up to cover her mouth as she asked hurriedly, "Mom! Are you okay?!"_

_Kanade's mother__ opened one eye slightly and noticed Kanade's worried eyes, she smiled weakly, "Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine, Kanade, just the klutz that your mom is decided to break her ankle," she pried one hand off of the throbbing ankle and placed it on top of Kanade's head while chuckling lightly at the irony. Confusion flashed through Kanade's gold eyes as she couldn't figure out exactly what was so humorous. Kanade's mother's face suddenly became serious as she grabbed both Kanade's shoulders in her hands and looked at her straight in the eyes, "Listen, Kanade, I can't run anymore. You have to get out of here. You need to go to the Leaf Village. Show this to Sarutobi, the Hokage of Konohagakure, He'll know what to do once he sees it," she said and handed her a necklace, its pendant was a bottle with tiny little glowing black butterflies inside, Kanade took it and wore it around her neck, "Get off of Terauchi Island by any means necessary. And never come back here. Do you understand?" Kanade hesitated at first but then nodded slowly, "…And don't go to the Cloud Village either."_

"…_But how about you, mom?"_

"_Don't worry about me and just listen to me!" Kanade's mother scolded her sharply, making her heart even heavier than it already was. She sighed and continued in a calmer tone, "I'll hold off our pursuer for a while, while I do, get as far away from here as possible. And don't ever come back to either Terauchi Island or the Cloud Village, do you hear me?" Kanade nodded sadly, "Also, I want you to promise me something. Will you do it?" Kanade nodded furiously, this time with her eyes shut tight, trying to force her tears back into their place of origin, "Promise me that you will summon them."_

_Kanade cocked her head to the side in a questioning way, "…Summon who?"_

"_Mom's aces. It's about time to change mistresses after all."_

"_Summon your aces…? What do you mean?"_

"_Just promise me! Please, Kanade?_

"_I promise!" Kanade managed to choke out as she felt her mother pull her into a short hug. Kanade started to return the gesture only to be promptly pushed away and into the forest before she could. She heard her loving mother's cry of pain soon after the sickening sound of metal piercing flesh reached her ears. Kanade's gold eyes widened in fear as she took off running into the forest._

___**# # # # # # # #**_

_Back to where Kanade had left her mother. She was laying on the dirt, blonde tresses sprawled out, her foot still caught between the rocks and now, blood was forming pools around her abdomen where a slender katana impaled her to the ground. Kanade's mother's gold orbs glared up at her attacker who was showing absolutely no emotion at all, "What is this about?" she hissed through her clenched teeth._

"_Mizukage's orders," the green-haired attacker responded casually, "He likes all his shinobi to live within the Mist Village where they can be watched. He seems to think you Terauchi residents are up to something. And by the way you all run away from us or fight us who are trying to fulfill our leader's orders; I'd have to agree with him."_

"_That's insane…" was her reply. The other man stooped down to her level and gripped the handle of the weapon._

"_And if that's your opinion, then that's why you die," the katana was then yanked from her body as she winced in pain and bit her lip to keep her from screaming as the man walked off, leaving the woman there to perish. Kanade's mother looked up at the night sky and whispered oh-so-lovingly:_

"_Kanade... Sorry that you had to go through all this… I and your father just wanted to show you the beauty of this world but… It seems that we failed, huh…? Anyways…_

…_Happy Birthday, my cute daughter.."_

___**# # # # # # # #**_

_Kanade, on the other hand, was running as fast as her legs could carry her to the island's coast with her torn kimono cloth streaming behind her. As she was running, she felt a sharp pain hit the side of her knee and travel a few inches up her leg, 'Dammit! A shuriken?!' she cursed, wincing and stumbling a little as she pulled out the shuriken that had embedded itself in her thigh and tossed it at another quickly approaching shuriken. The two weapons collided sending both back in the direction they came. But since she was running still, these presented no threat to her, although judging by the grunt of pain she heard from the shadows it could be assumed that she had hit her target. She smirked at the thought and at the fact that she had now reached the pier. Most of Terauchi Island's coastline was covered in piers and docks seeing as the sandy shore acted as quicksand most of the time. The pier had started in the marshy forest but she could now hear the waves crashing up against the wooden structure. Kanade made it to the edge of the dock without slipping on the thin frost that had collected on it before halting right at the edge. She looked both to her right and left, the mist made it hard to see more than 100 feet on either side of her but she didn't see any boats or rafts that the attackers could've used to get on the island._

_Kanade gave a short nod to the ocean, confirming to herself that she was facing west, and shivered at the wind. She knew the attackers were from the Village Hidden by Mist which was to the east of her island, there were no boats here meaning they hadn't come this way. She took half a step forward but quickly took it back. 'Mom..! Dad…!' she thought as her lips managed to pull themselves into a small, sad smile at the memory about her parents; about how her father trained and tutored her about shinobi techniques and how her mother gave them some cakes and cookies when they are on a break. Her mother and father are both ninjas but they always and always had time for her. Kanade's smile faded, realizing that tonight's the last night that they'd spend their time with her. Out of all days… Do both of them really have to die on her birthday?_

_Just then, she felt a harsh tug on her shoulder that made her gaze shot up to its source; A hidden mist shinobi; the green-haired one who killed both of her parents. He smirked as he looked down at her, "Found you," the man said then swung his kunai at her._

_Kanade was so shocked she practically froze in place, her mind not functioning due to the fast series of events. She got caught off guard so the kunai plunged in straight to her right eye. She backed up as pain started to accumulate the insides of her eye but the kunai follows without pulling out._

_A sadistic smile adorned the man's face as he pulled out the kunai then thrusted it back again inside her right socket hole, Kanade screamed in pure primal terror, buckets of blood dripping from her face to her neck. _

_The kunai sinks in further and is forcibly pushing its way in. The fierce friction of the cold metal of the kunai ruthlessly shoving its way in causes pain to run through the area. Kanade continued to scream and shout in agony as she felt the insides of her eyeball being clawed out. The man on the other hand, was cackling at the girl's demise._

"_DAMN YOU!" Kanade shouted as she gave him a successful kick in the shin, making him bend over backwards. The mist shinobi recovered quickly but shivered as soon as he met Kanade's gaze._

"_T-that's.." he stuttered, eyes widening at Kanade, scanning her face._

_Her left eye was enveloped in a gold flame and there was a thin silver diagonal line cutting across her golden orb._

_The man's breath got caught in his throat as Kanade approached him, he took a wary step backwards, "Crap..!"_

"…_BURN IN HELL!"_

_It was now the man's turn to scream._

___**# # # # # # # #**_

_Kanade opened her now heterochromatic eyes; gold on the left and red on the right, and adjusted her sight to her surroundings, she's still not used to her new right eye yet but it's better than having her right eyesight go blind. No use complaining now. She looked at the dead man before him, his right eye missing._

'_Looks like I killed him…Whatever. He deserved it,' she thought to herself before clenching her fists and diving into the frigid sea._

_The salty water immediately reminded her that she had a nasty gash on her left thigh and she grunted in response and prayed with all her heart that the blood wouldn't attract sharks. While treading the water, Kanade managed to pull off her right ninja sandal with her left foot. Then she brought her left foot up to her face and tore through the rather tough material at the ankle of the sandal with her unusually sharp canine tooth. She kicked the parts that covered her foot off into the water then slid the upper part up her leg to cover her wound as a makeshift bandage. Wincing at the pain in her leg, and in her heart, she quickly and silently swam off, never looking back at Terauchi Island. Kanade was definitely going to Konohagakure and she was going to keep her promise to her mother, 'It__… it was her dying wish…'__ she thought sadly as her salty tears overflowed her eyes and blended with her blood and the salty sea water. '__I can't die,'__ she thought as the stinging in her leg grew more intense. '__Then, then… They would have died in vain!'_

_Kanade had been swimming for about two hours and had covered a great amount of distance, or so it seemed. She might have swum in large circles for all she knew but Kanade preferred to think she had made progress. She was, obviously a very fast and very strong swimmer as any young person training to be a mist shinobi or kunoichi would be, but the swim was beginning to take its toll on her. After all, she was not some "shark-toothed freak" __as she had so kindly dubbed some of her classmates who possessed shark-like qualities. Kanade frowned and slowed her swimming, thinking of one boy that she had regretted throwing insults at; Hozuki Suigetsu. He was really skilled with swords and even some of the Seven Swordsmen had taken a liking to him. THE Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist! Kanade couldn't deny now that she had been jealous of him… Suigetsu was destined to be Zabuza's apprentice and Kisame was always showering him with compliments. Not only that but his family was highly respected and privileged. She, on the other hand, was supposed to be the victim of a massacre dealt out by her own sempai-tachi. _

_Neither Zabuza nor Kisame were much respected after they left the Mist of course, but she couldn't rudely point out this fact to her secret rival as a point of his inferiority to her since the boy had disappeared when she was 5 years of age. When she had all found out about his mysterious disappearance in class, a wave of guilt had swept over her. Although his absence made her top of the class, Kanade couldn't kill the feeling of remorse for her cruelty towards him. She shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts and suddenly felt very dizzy. She wished that she hadn't slowed her movements; ironically it made her realize how exhausted she was. Kanade felt the darkness creeping in and didn't even have time to panic about her fate before it enclosed to her._

___**# # # # # # # #**_

"_I'm just saying… It'll be weighing on my conscience if we don't at least try to help her."_

"_There's no reason to help."_

"_I… Just gave you a reason."_

"… _And a rather pathetic one at that."_

_Kanade was hearing voices… And she felt… soft sand on her face, '__I… washed up on a beach…'__ she realized. '__How embarrassing,'__ she shifted a bit which agitated her wound and made her give out a small cry of pain and grasp her makeshift bandage. Kanade felt a hand land on her left shoulder and she opened her left eye to see who had found her, who might be her saviours. Three figures met her pained heterogenous eyes, their metallic uniforms shone in the sunlight and they had white and red masks covering their faces, '__Leaf ANBU…'_

"_Are you alright?" the one who was crouched beside her asked kindly. He had tall silver hair and she recognized his voice as being the first one who spoke; he wanted to help her._

_Kanade shook her head slowly in response to his question, "No…" she started quietly, "I…" she cut herself off when her eyes began to sting and water and brought a hand up to her face to rub her eyes. She didn't want to show such weakness in front of these people, or any people for that matter. She was stronger than that, at least, she was going to make herself stronger than that, "My leg hurts…" Kanade responded to the silver-haired ANBU and tugged a little at the "bandage". Another one of the figures, one with short brown-colored hair stooped down to look at her leg._

"_Mind if I take a look?" he asked beginning to slide the covering off of the wound. Kanade shook her head, granting him permission which he apparently didn't need. She winced as he pulled the coarse material away from her open wound and off of her leg. The tear on her kimono was rather huge so the four-inch gash was clearly visible and was very unsightly. The salt water, the course and tight material that had stopped the blood loss and the lack of fresh air the wound had received all made it take on a nasty oozing appearance, like that of bloody, rotting flesh. Kanade grimaced at the sight and looked at the three ANBUs wondering what they thought of the wound. The short-haired male looked up at the only one standing who had long black hair and was obviously female. She was likely the one who had objected to helping her, since the voice she heard didn't match either male's voice._

"_It's not a bad wound, but she should get it cleaned before it's bandaged," the one examining her leg told her before turning to the silver-haired shinobi, "We taking her back?" the ashen haired one shrugged and turned to her._

"_Hey kid, would you want to let us help you get back home?" he asked kindly but Kanade hastily shook her head no._

"_I…" Kanade began before taking a swallow to calm her emotions, "…don't have a home. I need a new one. I need to go to Konohagakure. I need to talk to the Hokage," she finished and looked down sadly. The one who had asked the question nodded to imply he understood while the female slid her katana off her back and tossed it to the short-haired one before placing her hands on her hips in an assertive manner._

"_Well we three are from the Village Hidden in the Leaves and are travelling there now," she told Kanade sternly, "We've wasted enough time as it is, so if you wish to come with us and see what happens, then climb up on my back so I can carry you. You'll most likely lose more blood if you try to walk plus, we'll most likely move too fast for you to keep up," with that she stooped down so Kanade's short self could climb on her back, which she did quickly in fear that the kunoichi might change her mind and just leave her there. Something in the back of Kanade's mind told her that she wouldn't do that but it was too late now to test that theory plus, she really didn't want to waste more of their time._

_As soon as Kanade had gotten into a comfortable, stable position and the short-haired ANBU had secured the girl's katana on his back, she and the three Leaf ANBU shot off at the speed of light towards their destination; her new destination. Hopefully, her new home even. The beginning of her new life; and she was not going let anything or anyone ruin it. She was not going to pain or hurt any longer, she was not going to cry and she was not going to die before her time. She's not going to let everything end here._

_-End of Flashback-_

___**# # # # # # # #**_

As thoughts occupied Kanade's mind, the door to the Hokage's office opened and the ANBU with the short brown hair stuck his head out and gestured for her to enter. She stood up from her seat and slowly made her way into the room. Her left leg was still hurting although it had been cleaned and properly bandaged upon her arrival in Konoha. As Kanade entered the room, her eyes immediately fell on the elderly man sitting at a large desk who was quite obviously the Hokage. Kanade blinked at him; the Mizukage was old too but he didn't look his age as this man did. She bowed politely towards him, with her hands placed on her thighs and he nodded, acknowledging the gesture. Kanade then straightened herself up.

"State your name and where you are from," the Hokage stated firmly.

Kanade clenched her hands into little fists and answered, "Sugisaki Kanade, Originally from the Country of Lightning but is now from the Country of Water," the Hokage nodded again and continued.

"Which island?"

"Terauchi Island."

The Hokage narrowed his eyes a little and his gaze fell towards her bandaged leg. "That is… home to some mist shinobi, correct?" Kanade nodded, "Why did you leave?"

Kanade lowered her gaze and stared at the floor. Kanade wasn't sure what to say… She wasn't all that sure of what had happened. In her mind some deranged, blood-thirsty ninja had attacked her home and killed her family. Kanade didn't know about the Mizukage's suspicions or his orders, she just thought some shinobi had needed some bloodshed and chose her home as their victim. So she decided to tell the Hokage the very blunt of it. "My parents were killed and my mother told me to go to Konoha and show this to you," Kanade took off her glass bottle pendant and gave it to the Hokage.

The Hokage's eyes widened as soon as he saw the contents of the bottle, "Those butterflies…" he sighed and turned to look at Kanade, "You are Sugisaki Kotarou and Mizue's daughter am I correct?"

Kanade perked up at the Hokage's words, "…How did you know?"

The Hokage smiled as he remembered some nostalgic memories, "Your parents are people with such pure intentions. They are good friends of mine," he said, looking at the bottle quite fondly, "And these… These are the special hybrid butterflies that your father developed. They're beautiful but quite deadly," he explained to Kanade who was listening to him rather intently.

"Were you training to become a kunoichi for Kirigakure?" the Hokage asked after a few moments.

Kanade nodded and replied, "Yes… And I'd like to continue my training here in Konoha," she said and looked at the 3rd Hokage in the eye, to let him see that she could be trusted.

"Of course."

Kanade jerked her head back a little in surprise, '_Did he just… Agree to let me stay here?'_ she thought disbelieving her good luck; everything was all thanks to her parents. She had really thought that she wouldn't be allowed to stay.

"From now on, I will take care of your everyday needs," the Hokage continued, "…That of course includes shelter, food, clothes and money," He smiled then asked Kanade, "Would you be willing to live in Konohagakure?"

Kanade quickly nodded her head and replied, "Yes, I would! Thank you!"

"Alright then," the Hokage started, getting up from his desk looking tired, "Kanade, you can start with the other academy students in your age group as you already have basic training. You can start in three days. Now you should be getting to bed, it's very late," his face softened a bit and he let a small smile creep over his aged features before saying:

"Welcome to Konoha, Kanade."

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A/N:

Thanks for reading!

Hi, guys. Welcome to my first Naruto story: "Life's Purpose".

I'm actually pretty updated with the anime and manga and I now like Sasuke's character development. That is one of the reasons why I made this fic.

Okay, I'll be branching off from the very start, where Sasuke is still studying in the academy. I'll also try to keep up with the real story line so, yeah. Anyways, no Sasuke interaction yet, sorry. We have to familiarize ourselves with the OC's background story first.

My updates will be after a week or two but things might be different if I receive reviews. :)

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Naruto; Only the original characters and the plot._

Till next time!

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**Next Chapter: Absolute Perfection**

"_I'm gonna be the Hokage one day, believe it!"_

"_**Are you trying to befriend me? …Because if you are, I suggest not to. You are just wasting your time."**_

"_Sigh.. He really is just a nuisance to everyone!"_

"_**Anyways… Naruto was it?"**_

"…_How nice for you."_


	3. II - Absolute Perfection

**Life's Purpose**

"_There are people of spirit and there are people of passion,_

_Both less common than one might think. _

_Rarer still are the people of spirit and passion. _

_But rarest of all is a passionate spirit."_

- Martin Buber

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**Chapter 2: Absolute Perfection**

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The sun was starting its way up into the sky, making the dark blanket of night slip back down. Its golden rays were reaching out like warm hands, gently waking up the sleeping people in the Village Hidden by Leaves. It slowly reached to a single window in an apartment, shining brightly into the bedroom that the window led to. Inside the bedroom, there was a bed with a peaceful, sleeping girl laying under the covers.

The rays crept across the carpet as if a secret ninja sneaking on its prey. It slipped up on the covers and gently rested on the girl's sleeping face. Kanade groaned in her sleep when the bright light hit her closed eyelids and she rolled over, pulling the blankets over her head. Just as her stirring ceased, a loud horn went off from her nightstand. She jumped in her sleep, clutching on her pillow and wildly looking around her room for the cause of the noise. Kanade looked next to her and to her nightstand, and saw that it was her alarm screaming at her.

Kanade huffed, looking irritated, slamming her palm down on the SNOOZE button on the top of it. She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling, rubbing her temples and eyes. She tried snapping in and out of sleep, until finally she rolled out of bed. The bed squeaked under her weight and then relaxed when she got off of it. She walked towards her dresser, looking in the mirror at her tired self. Kanade's red and gold eyes were drooping slightly from lack of enough sleep, her short raven hair was a complete bed head, and her tank top was sliding down her shoulder.

Kanade wrinkled her nose at her reflection, scratched her arm and headed towards the bathroom. She yawned and stretched while she started the water. She took a shower slowly, feeling the hot water finally starting to wake her up. She got out with a towel wrapped around her body, walking towards the mirror. She brushed her wet, black locks and then dried it and styled it. She brushed her teeth, making sure to get everywhere.

Kanade walked back into her bedroom, searching through her closet for a good outfit to where. She pulled on the white short shorts as well as a long white fingerless glove which reached mid-upper arm that she wore on her left arm. She slipped on a chain-link 'shirt' which served as armour. The sleeves were long of course and hooked around her middle fingers in order to stay in place and the neckline hung just below her collar bone. Over the chain-mail armor, she wore a black tank top with a neckline two inches below the neckline of the chain-link top. She completed the outfit with a black and white striped fingerless glove that almost reached her elbow on her right arm, white ninja sandals and finally her black Konoha hitai-ate, which she had gotten the day before, she tied it loosely around her neck. Kanade stared at her reflection for a few seconds before looking at the clock and saw it was about 8 o'clock. She sighed and headed out of her apartment, walking swiftly down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk. Kanade turned right and walked calmly to the downtown part of town. Everyone was going around doing their business.

'_So it's today huh…'_ she thought and sighed while she looked up into the sky.

Today is going to be her first day at the academy.

___**# # # # # # # #**_

"Class," the apparent sensei began, pulling Kanade out of her thoughts, "As you may have noticed, we have a new student joining us today," he paused to smile warmly at her, "This is Sugisaki Kanade," this was followed by a weak chorus of greetings and Kanade gave a short nod of acknowledgment towards the students, her face devoid of any expression at the time. The sensei continued, "I'm Iruka-sensei, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself, Kanade-san?"

Kanade slowly shook her head 'no'. She didn't have anything to say to these people and she definitely didn't want them to know about what had happened to her less than a week ago. And besides, she was not good with making friends at the first place. All that mattered to her was her parents but they're long gone now. The class was surprised and taken aback by that response, they hadn't even thought of 'no' being an answer. Iruka looked surprised as well and she was a little amused by their reactions, it wasn't really a big deal was it?

"Uh, well that's fine I guess," Iruka told her before smiling again, "Why don't you take a seat in between Naruto and Sasuke?" He waved his hand towards an empty seat in the center of the classroom between a boy with odd blonde hair and a boy with spiky black hair. Neither of them looked very happy, they actually looked angry. '_At me?'_ Kanade thought as she made her way up the stairs and sat down between the two students, '_I didn't do anything yet though...'_ "Alright," Iruka claimed the class's attention once again. "Today's lesson is on the Substitution Jutsu. Now…" Kanade stared straight ahead at the blackboard as Iruka gave his lecture, occasionally taking down a few notes when something seemed important. She noticed she was one of the very few who were actually taking notes; a girl with pink hair sitting in front of her, a boy with a high dark green collar and the boy sitting next to her who seemingly hadn't really been mad at her personally, '_Sasuke… I think it was…'_ she thought as she shifted her eyes to the left to glance at him.

"Hmm…"

___**# # # # # # # #**_

"Well that's it for this morning's lessons, we'll have lunch break for now and we're to stay inside the classroom today."

Kanade removed her bento box from her back pack and placed it in front of her before she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She sighed inwardly and turned her head slightly to face the blonde kid from earlier who was sitting on her right.

"Hi Kanade, I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" he declared to her loudly and cheerfully. Kanade nodded in acknowledgement but before she could turn back to her lunch Naruto continued, "I'm gonna be the Hokage one day, believe it!" she could practically feel the annoyance radiating from the other students.

"…How nice for you," Kanade replied coldly and opened the lid of her bento box. Not only were she hungry and this kid annoying, but it seemed he wanted to make friends with her for some reason.

"Yeah," Naruto responded, squinting. He was now squatting on the desk in front of Kanade so he was pretty close, "So, what're ya gonna be?"

Kanade's hand froze as it reached for her chopsticks. What was she going to be anyway? Kanade shifted her eyes upwards thoughtfully. She wanted to be something that her late family could have been proud of; strong, skilled, smart, merciless, quick, and silent; everything defining perfection. Yeah… that was it; perfect. She was going to be perfect, "Perfect," she responded, "I'm going to be perfect," '_For them…'_

"Perfect huh?" Kanade heard Naruto's annoying voice ask, "That's great but becoming a Hokage is greater!" he said, grinning at his oh-so-clever comment. It didn't bother Kanade in the least.

"Hey, hey, hey…" Naruto started again, Kanade looked up at him, her chopsticks in her mouth, "And I want to ask about your eye. Why is it like that? I mean, it's different!"

Kanade slammed her hand on her desk then stood up, catching everyone's attention, and turned to glare at Naruto.

"W-what…?"

"You don't know when to shut up, don't you?" she told him coldly and darkly as she clutched her right eye. Such horror-inducing memories that she intended to forget coming back to her; her father's headless body, her mother's scream of terror, the excoriating pain of the kunai plunging in and out of her right eye, the sadistic smile and laughter of the mist shinobi and her own blood bathing her clothes and skin.

Kanade, sat back down again, she hadn't noticed that in her deep thought and reminiscing she had been setting off a dark and disturbing aura that was putting the surrounding students on edge. Even Sasuke was watching her with a wary eye. It can't be helped, she was thinking of her family's murderer so she was entitled to a dark aura. Exhaling through her nose, she noticed quite a few of her classmates staring at her and she blushed slightly. She wasn't too keen on having everyone stare at her when she hadn't done anything worthy of praise. Ignoring them, Kanade picked up her chopsticks and wedged a tamagoyaki between them, lifting the yellow morsel to her mouth. She had a bunch of those in her bento. It was her favourite food.

She then turned her gaze back at Naruto before asking:

"Anyways… Naruto was it?"

The spiky blonde boy gave her a curt nod.

"Are you trying to befriend me? …Because if you are, I suggest not to. You are just wasting your time," Kanade told him off, earning some snickers and whispers from her other classmates.

"_I bet she got annoyed at him."_

"_Everybody thinks he's annoying after all!"_

"_Just look at that! No one wants to be his friend!"_

"_Sigh.. He really is just a nuisance to everyone!"_

His face dropped and he looked hurt. He seemed to have heard those whispers. But Kanade couldn't feel bad for him, she had to get it across that she wasn't like these other kids. She doesn't want to have friends. Ever since she was little, she was always in their house and doesn't like going outside, she was happy with just being with her mother and father. She also had never attempted making friends in her academy back then. She doesn't need them; those human beings called "friends". She considered it like an emotional training for when she'd have to embrace apathy and a completely emotionless personality as a flawless kunoichi. She gave her thought a curt nod of approval, a habit of hers, and looked at the few tamagoyaki left in her bento box. She wasn't very hungry anymore.

Kanade's voice had been dark and haunting to anyone else but to Naruto it had just been hurtful. How could she be so heartless? He never had any friends and he never really got why but why would a new student have any reason to hate him? He had just only decided to try and make friends with the pretty new girl, she seemed kind of cool and funny but obviously, she wasn't interested at all.

Kanade ignored Naruto's pained look as she closed her eyes, all her thoughts settled on her goal:

Absolute perfection.

* * *

A/N:

Thanks for reading!

Reviews, please! I would love to receive one! :)

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Naruto; Only the original characters and the plot._

See you next time!

* * *

**Next Chapter: Exordium to Bonds**

"_They swing that way?"_

"_**My first impression on all of you is… I hate you."**_

"_My likes are… well… __**who**__ I like is…"_

"_**Mind your own business."**_


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